Masks Off
by SpongeGuy
Summary: Hiro and Karmi find out secrets on a rooftop. A gift for Arctimon!


"...I can explain."

Standing on a San Fransokyo rooftop in the middle of the night was not unusual to Hiro Hamada.

Neither was being chewed out by someone.

And the chewing being done by Karmi? He could have bet his entire supply of gummy bears on that and sleep soundly!

What was unusual…

"YOU'RE CAPTAIN CUTIE?"

…Was that Karmi, dressed up in a superhero costume (that Hiro totally didn't think made her even more beautiful... Not at all…), was chewing him out because she found out that he is Captain Cutie…

Which she already told you, so… Redundant much, me?

Hiro sighed as he walked towards Karmi, relieved that the rest of the team weren't here right now.

"Karmi, look, I know this is a bit of a shock…"

"A BIT?"

Karmi walked up and down the roof, gesticulating like mad, failing to comprehend that Hiro, her schoolmate, her rival, her… Friend…

WAS FREAKIN' CAPTAIN CUTIE!

Like, how was that possible?

How had he not been hurt yet?

Most importantly…

HOW HAD SHE NOT FIGURED IT OUT?

"I can't believe you! I mean, you've done crazy, reckless things before, but oh ho ho! This is a whole new level!"

Hiro sighed again, letting her blow off steam.

In a weird way, she deserved too.

Thanks to him, Karmi had been inspired to be a superhero too, and she used her biotech know how to help him and them team for a few weeks now.

He knew from the start, but had decided against revealing that, or any other identity details.

That… May have been a mistake.

Karmi began pulling at her own hair, shouting "YOU COULD HAVE DIED!"

Scratch that… It was TOTALLY a mistake.

"Karmi, look…"

"No, don't give me any excuses, you could have been hurt!"

Karmi began to pant, realizing what could have happened.

"Karmi, please listen to me, I had to…"

"You could have been hurt…"

Tears stung her eyes as Hiro finally reached her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Karmi, I'm sorry…"

"You could have been hurt…"

She suddenly grabbed him, squeezing tight, sobbing softly.

"I… I can't lose you…"

Hiro felt her tears stain his armor, but he didn't talk. He just hugged back and said…

"…I can't lose you too."

Karmi looked up, anger replaced with worry.

"How do you do this every night? I've been panicking non stop! I… I actually thought you weren't him…"

"I know, but someone has to help…", he said, trying to make her understand.

"Why? Why you? You're smart, don't get me wrong, but you're only 14! Let someone else do it, just not you!"

Hiro was beginning to get a little annoyed. He knew that Karmi was right in a way, but she had no idea what he had went through! He had to save the city!

He had to make her see!

"Karmi, I can't. I can't stop."

"Hiro, no, I'll do it instead! Just don't…"

"KARMI, LISTEN!"

He actually felt the struggle for once, as his head dropped.

"…"

She listened intently now, realizing she had hurt him.

"…Tadashi died because I couldn't help. No one else is dying under my watch."

He looked straight into her eyes, making another promise.

"No one."

The heat of the moment began to get to them, the two breathing heavily.

"…I'm sorry… It's just…"

She blushed. "You're my friend. You're special to me. I want to make sure you're safe too."

Hiro tried to ignore the feeling in his cheeks and he smiled. "Well… You weren't bad out there… Maybe we can work together."

He held out his hand, like he did once, all those months ago.

Karmi smiled that soft, shy smile of hers, the one she really meant, and held back.

"…I would like that."

Suddenly, a feeling rose up in her chest, and she had to do it.

"You know…", she said, her forehead nearly touching his.

He could only feel her now.

"…I guess it's good that I outgrew my crush on Captain Cutie…"

"What?", Hiro asked, confused, but it was too late.

As they finally kissed, after so much denial, she whispered…

"Pretending not to love you was even harder than fighting crime."

Hiro kissed her back, passionately, and as the two let the rain soak them, he was really relieved that the rest of them team weren't there.


End file.
